'Will Wayne Rooney get in the team?': Everton legend Kevin Ratcliffe questions whether top brass, not Ronald Koeman, are driving return

  • Wayne Rooney is on the verge of sealing a return to boyhood club Everton
  • The 31-year-old underwent a medical at Finch Farm on Saturday
  • Kevin ­Ratcliffe has questioned where Rooney fits into Ronald Koeman's plans
  • The Everton icon thinks the move is being driven by the club, not the manager

Everton legend Kevin ­Ratcliffe has questioned where Wayne Rooney fits into Ronald Koeman's plans and if the player's big return is actually being driven by the club's top brass.

Ratcliffe led the Toffees as captain to their unprecedented success in the 1980s but admits to being perplexed over Rooney's second coming. The 31-year-old was pictured leaving Finch Farm on Saturday after completing his medical.

Everton's summer spending, which is nearing the £100million mark, has seen energetic players like Sandro Ramirez, Davy Klaassen and Michael Keane arrive. 

Wayne Rooney's expected return to Everton shows that romance is alive and well in football

Wayne Rooney's expected return to Everton shows that romance is alive and well in football

Club legend Kevin Ratcliffe is unsure where Rooney fits into Ronald Koeman's game plan

Club legend Kevin Ratcliffe is unsure where Rooney fits into Ronald Koeman's game plan

Ratcliffe thinks Bill Kenwright (left) and Everton's top brass are driving the deal, not Koeman

Ratcliffe thinks Bill Kenwright (left) and Everton's top brass are driving the deal, not Koeman

Those three are all in the mould of player that Koeman likes, as it works with the manager's pressing style but Ratcliffe is unsure how Rooney would work in that system.


Ratcliffe told the Mirror: 'I'm a little unsure where Wayne Rooney fits into all this. I wonder where he will break into the team? He is still a very good player but where does he get in?

'Ronald Koeman likes a pressing game. I don't know whether Wayne can do that now. He will always do his best even if you stuck him in goal. 

Koeman (right) likes to employ a pressing game and his other transfers fit that mould of player

Koeman (right) likes to employ a pressing game and his other transfers fit that mould of player

'I know that Everton brought Gazza in during his twilight years and he didn't do badly, but I think they brought him in at the time as a crowd pleaser. 

'They knew they weren't going anywhere but they needed to excite people and get people in through the turnstiles.

'That's not the case now. Also you wonder whether this is being driven more by the club than the manager.'